Tesla, Amazon, Facebook Support LGBTQ Civil Rights Law

More than 400 companies (including also Apple, Pfizer, PepsiCo, Starbucks) support new anti-discrimination legislation, which is to go through the US Senate.

The Human Rights Campaign, a Washington-based LGBTQ advocacy group, said its Equality Law Business Coalition has grown to 416 members, including dozens of Fortune 500 companies. PepsiCo, General Motors, CVS, Facebook, Marriott, Capital One, Starbucks, Delta Air Lines, and Home Depot. This was reported by ABC News.

“The time has come to extend civil rights protection to LGBT + people across the country in a clear, consistent and comprehensive manner,” said Carla Grant Pickens, IBM's Chief Diversity, Inclusion and Inclusion Officer, in a statement released by the Human Rights Campaign.

The Equality Act will amend existing civil rights legislation to explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected characteristics. This protection will apply to all aspects, including labor rights, the right to housing, loan applications, education, and other areas.

Bill 224-206 was passed by the House of Representatives of the US Congress in February 2021, and was supported by all Democrats; only three of the Republican congressmen voted in favor. The fate of the act of equality in the nearly half-divided Senate is still unclear.

Opponents of the bill include the US Catholic Bishops' Conference, which has said that if passed, the law could force church halls and premises to hold events that contradict their beliefs.

Corporate endorsements of the bill have more than doubled since the House of Representatives first considered it in 2019, according to the Campaign for Human Rights.

“We see growing support from business leaders because they understand that the Equality Law is good for their employees, good for their business and critical for our country as a whole,” said Campaign for Human Rights President Alfonso David in a statement.

Source: Parni Plus